Chapter 125: An Absurd Review

Japan is fine, the Chinese-speaking regions are fine, and Europe is perfectly fine. These comics are quite good and very suitable for young readers, but...

"What is it?"

"Athena shows too much skin?"

"Damn, even Venus doesn't wear anything."

"Slam Dunk is accused of discriminating against black guys, so the shark character must be changed to white."

William White was speechless.

"Transformers is too violent."

"I see. Optimus Prime should take up golf. Please, continue."

"The female character designs in Cowboy Bebop are problematic. They over-emphasize the figure, which is suspected to be sexist."

"Good heavens! I’m just depicting healthy women. If I made them as flat as a board, I’d be accused of promoting some other agenda. Go ask them: what is a 'normal' cup size? Tell them they must provide a response."

"Yes, boss." Knowing the boss was planning to stir up trouble, the subordinate continued the report.

"Resident Evil promotes too much violence, and the depictions of zombies are prone to causing discomfort."

"Hmm, go on."

"The Simpsons is fine, but they hope for more positive portrayals."

"Fist of the North Star is also being called blood-soaked and violent."

"Damn it, am I running a restricted-content comic weekly? A bunch of good-for-nothing fools! Ignore them. Spread the word; there will be people interested."

"Regarding the cup size issue, go ask the ACA. What is the appropriate size for a woman, and why don't they do something about all the 'rule-breaking' ones on the street?"

"Understood, boss."

The subordinate, holding back laughter, left. William White had been pushed to the point of laughing in frustration.

"Suzuki, have Toei Animation modify the American version. Add grape juice and glacier mineral water into the scenes."

"Understood, boss. I'll take care of it."

William White truly admired Stan Lee. How on earth did that old man survive all this—this wasn't allowed, that wasn't allowed?

The people at the ACA had never dealt with someone like William White before. These jerks had the audacity to come over and demand compliance—did they even understand the rules of the game?

They thought they knew how to use lobbying organizations? Fine, he would give them a taste of their own medicine and make sure they remembered this lesson.

"What size should an American girl's figure be? William White invites you to answer the question."

"Is this comic character’s figure breaking the rules? Are you planning to discriminate against people with good bodies?"

Many families had a delightful breakfast, as many newspapers carried William White's three questions.

Since the birth of the ACA, no comic company had ever dared to act like this. This was a full-on bridge-burning move; he hadn't left any room for negotiation on either side.

Only those with dirty minds would constantly scrutinize sensitive areas—shouldn't they be concerned about the content instead?

Using the banner of protecting women to discriminate against them? Are you demanding that girls wear chest binders? This is truly shameless.

The expressions on the faces of the ACA crowd were twisted with indignation. The old guard had planned to properly "cook" this guy, but now, there was no need—he had chosen to fight them head-on.

This is the beauty of the United States: if you’re rich, you don't have to worry about having nowhere to reason—you just sue!

They had seen unreasonable people, but someone this reckless was rare. Yet, the court had no choice but to accept the case.

William White quickly dug up the ACA’s dark history, dragging out everything they had ever questioned. He was planning to bury the ACA once and for all.

The children who had been affected back then had all grown up now.

"Comics are harmful?"

Haha, what an absurd and ridiculous conclusion. You burned the comics back then—did the crime rate drop even a little? You were the ones deliberately warping children's psychology.

The old guard started to get a headache. Public opinion was clearly not on their side. The current social climate was anti-mainstream; this kind of regulation simply wouldn't work anymore.

The most speechless part was that the rest of the world had passed the review, but the U.S. hadn't. Were their moral standards truly that much higher?

It was embarrassing now. You couldn't even let it pass anymore, because doing so would be a self-inflicted slap to the face!

The rebellious nature of Americans is incredibly strong. If you say they can't look at something, they'll go elsewhere to buy it. They wanted to see for themselves just how "rule-breaking" it really was.

William White’s destructive power was immense. Someone else was about to have a bad day. Even if they managed to make things difficult for him this time, the ACA’s reputation was already in ruins.

Now, he was demanding an apology. You couldn't just burn books like you used to. His "fragile young heart" had been deeply traumatized, and now he needed psychological counseling—they should pay for it.

Don't think he was joking. This would trigger a class-action lawsuit. If he won just one of them, they might as well announce their dissolution; no one could afford that kind of compensation.

What could Marvel and DC say? They had to offer support, or else they’d be shunned.

Even Warner Bros. couldn't say anything. DC had been the one hit the hardest; almost every one of their comic characters had been caught in the crossfire.

"Holy crap, this is a huge mess. I can't carry this burden right now!"

In fact, Marvel had already figured it out: this was all a publicity stunt. The sales plan didn't involve the U.S. market at all.

The logic was simple: he hadn't even contacted any book distributors. Was he planning to sell comic books on the street corner?

Since it was a publicity stunt, they were forced to join in; otherwise, they’d be idiots.

Facing a crowd of disgruntled victims, the ACA was miserable. They were being completely played.

The American comic review system was indeed problematic. What was their basis? Why were they allowed to do whatever they wanted?

Aren't movies and comics the same? Why couldn't they use a rating system?

The manual manipulation was too arbitrary and didn't reflect any values at all. Just a few sleazy old men deciding the fate of comics—it was absolutely outrageous.

...

To keep it brief: they argued for over a month with no results. Actually, the ACA realized this guy was just looking for a fight. They lost interest in re-reviewing anything. In the end, it was all or nothing—pass everything, or block everything.

Meanwhile, bizarre commercials began airing on television.

The ACA had objections?

Sorry, it’s none of your business. These are advertisements. Using cartoon characters for ads—do you dare to object?

Although the spots were under a minute long, no one could really say anything was wrong with them, even if the forced insertion of the commercials left people speechless.

How capricious could you get?

The battle would be intense, then suddenly, Megatron would say that grape juice was delicious.

Are you sick?

Can robots even drink grape juice?

Could you be any more absurd?

The answer was yes. Athena would chime in that the glacier mineral water was excellent.

Many people fell flat on their faces in disbelief.

It wasn't that the ads had to be embedded so awkwardly; it was done on purpose. They were originally just comic ads, but since they couldn't be sold, this was the only way—the ad space wasn't refundable anyway.

Believe it or not, Americans not only remembered these comic characters, but they also remembered the grape juice and mineral water.

What is the purpose of advertising?

Getting familiar is the bare minimum. Other things aside, the effect was obvious.

With such unique packaging and such high-class vibes, where could one buy it?

Damn, it hadn't even been produced yet.

Well, it seemed they were truly forced into this. If the last part were removed, these comic commercials would actually be quite good.

Wait, there was nothing "disharmonious" about them.

What was going on with this review process? Had he been poisoned by it too deeply, or were there still some inappropriate hints hidden in the comics?